'Elden Ring' wins the top prize at the Game Awards 2022

Alexandra Del Rosario
·7 min read

The Game Awards returned to Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater on Thursday night for its first in-person event since the COVID pandemic. Basking in the cheers of the gaming community was FromSoftware's "Elden Ring," which won the top prize — game of the year.

"We have faced so many difficulties while developing this game ... so I'm really relieved," said director Hidetaka Miyazaki. "I haven't made up my mind to create even more interesting games than this one. As for 'Elden Ring,' we still have more things we want to do, so getting this GOTY award really, really encourages us."

Heading into the ceremony, "Elden Ring" received seven nominations. "Elden Ring" also won prizes for art direction, role-playing and direction.

FromSoftware last won game of the year in 2019 for "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice."

For the Game Awards creator and host Geoff Keighley, Thursday's show was a welcome return to ceremony's usual form, with notable gaming figures — Xbox's Phil Spencer and previous Game Awards honorees Hideo Kojima, and Josef Fares — in attendance.

Of course, this year also touted something new for the ceremony — its inaugural best adaptation category.

Ahead of the show, Keighley told The Times that 2022 is an optimal time to start celebrating "authentic" and fresh takes on gaming content.

"[The category] just speaks to how gaming is taking over pop culture," he said in November on a video call. "Part of the mission of our show is to celebrate the power of this medium as the largest, most dominant form of entertainment. So I think this is just another example of it's continued proliferation."

Netflix's "Arcane," an animated take on the world of Riot's "League of Legends," took home the first best adaptation award.

The Game Awards' in-person comeback also saw prizes for "Stray," "Bayonetta 3" and "God of War Ragnarök," which won six categories. See the full list of the 2022 Game Awards winners below:

Game of the year 

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) | WINNER

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)

  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Game direction

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)| WINNER

  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

  • Immortality (Half Mermaid)

  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

Narrative

  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) | WINNER

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

  • Immortality (Half Mermaid)

Art direction

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) | WINNER

  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

  • Scorn (Ebb Software/Kepler Interactive)

  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

Score and music

  • Bear McCreary, God of War Ragnarök | WINNER

  • Olivier Deriviere, A Plague Tale: Requiem

  • Tsukasa Saitoh, Elden Ring

  • Two Feathers, Metal: Hellsinger

  • Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Audio design

  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) | WINNER

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)

  • Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony/SIE)

  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

Performance

  • Christopher Judge, God of War Ragnarök | WINNER

  • Ashly Burch, Horizon Forbidden West

  • Charlotte McBurney, A Plague Tale: Requiem

  • Manon Gage, Immortality

  • Sunny Suljic, God of War Ragnarök

Games for impact

  • As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios) | WINNER

  • A Memoir Blue (Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna)

  • Citizen Sleeper (Jump Over The Age/Fellow Traveller)

  • Endling: Extinction Is Forever (Herobeat Studios/HandyGames)

  • Hindsight (Team Hindsight/Annapurna)

  • I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)

Ongoing game

  • Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) | WINNER

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)

  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)

  • Fortnite (Epic Games)

  • Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Indie

  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna) | WINNER

  • Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster / Devolver Digital)

  • Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)

  • Sifu (Sloclap)

  • Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)

Debut indie

  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna) | WINNER

  • Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna Interactive)

  • Norco (Geography of Robots/Raw Fury)

  • Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)

  • Vampire Survivors (poncle)

Community support, presented by Discord

  • Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) | WINNER

  • Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)

  • Destiny 2 (Bungie)

  • Fortnite (Epic Games)

  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Mobile

  • Marvel Snap (Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse) | WINNER

  • Apex Legends Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum/Respawn/EA)

  • Diablo Immortal (Blizzard/NetEase)

  • Genshin Impact (HoYovese)

  • Tower of Fantasy (Hotta Studio/Perfect World/Level Infinite)

VR/AR 

  • Moss: Book II (Polyarc) | WINNER

  • After the Fall (Vertigo Games)

  • Among Us VR (Schell Games/InnerSloth)

  • Bonelab (Stress Level Zero)

  • Red Matter 2 (Vertical Robot)

Action 

  • Bayonetta 3 (Platinum Games/Nintendo) | WINNER

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)

  • Neon White (Angel Matrix/Annapurna)

  • Sifu (Sloclap)

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)

Action/adventure

  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) | WINNER

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)

  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)

  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)

  • Tunic (Tunic Team/Finji)

Role-playing

  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) | WINNER

  • Live a Live (Square Enix/Nintendo)

  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Game Freak/Nintendo/TPCI)

  • Triangle Strategy (Artdink/Square Enix)

  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

Fighting

  • MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games) | WINNER

  • DNF Duel (Arc System Works/Eighting/Neople/Nexon)

  • JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R (CyberConnect 2 Co. Ltd/Bandai Namco)

  • The King of Fighters XV (SNK/Plaion)

  • Sifu (Sloclap)

Family

  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land (HAL Laboratory / Nintendo) | WINNER

  • Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Traveller’s Tales/WB Games)

  • Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft)

  • Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

  • Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

SIM/strategy

  • Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Ubisoft Milan/Paris/Ubisoft) | WINNER

  • Dune: Spice Wars (Shiro Games/Funcom)

  • Total War: Warhammer III (Creative Assembly/Sega)

  • Two Point Campus (Two Point Studios/Sega)

  • Victoria 3 (Paradox Development Studio/Paradox Interactive)

Sports/racing 

  • Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE) | WINNER

  • F1 22 (Codemasters/EA Sports)

  • FIFA 23 (EA Vancouver/Romania/EA Sports)

  • NBA 2K23 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)

  • OlliOlli World (Roll 7/Private Division)

Multiplayer

  • Splatoon 3 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo) | WINNER

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Infinity Ward/Activision)

  • MultiVersus (Player First Games/WB Games)

  • Overwatch 2 (Blizzard)

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Tribute Games/Dotemu)

Most anticipated 

  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo) | WINNER

  • Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)

  • Hogwarts Legacy (Avalanche Software/WB Games)

  • Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

  • Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)

Content creator of the year

  • Ludwig | WINNER

  • Karl Jacobs

  • Nibellion

  • Nobru

  • QTCinderella

Adaptation

  • Arcane: League of Legends (Fortiche/Riot Games/Netflix) | WINNER

  • Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (Studio Trigger/CD Projekt, Netflix)

  • The Cuphead Show! (Studio MDHR/King Features Syndicate/Netflix)

  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Sammy Group/Paramount Pictures)

  • Uncharted (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)

Innovation in accessibility

  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE) | WINNER

  • As Dusk Falls (Interior Night/Xbox Game Studios)

  • Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital)

  • The Last of Us Part I (Naughty Dog/SIE)

  • The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K)

Esports game

  • Valorant (Riot Games) | WINNER

  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve)

  • Dota 2 (Valve)

  • League of Legends (Riot Games)

  • Rocket League (Psyonix)

Esports athlete

  • Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker (Cloud9, Valorant) | WINNER

  • Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Gen.G, LOL)

  • Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1, LOL)

  • Finn “karrigan” Andersen (FaZe Clan - CS:GO)

  • Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)

Esports team

  • LOUD (Valorant) | WINNER

  • DarkZero Esports (Apex Legends)

  • FaZe Clan (CS:GO)

  • Gen.G (League of Legends)

  • LA Thieves (Call of Duty)

Esports coach

  • Matheus “bzkA” Tarasconi (Loud, Valorant) | WINNER

  • Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (Natus Vincere, CS:GO)

  • Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (FPX, Valorant)

  • Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström (FaZe Clan, CS:GO)

  • Go “Score” Dong-bin (Gen.G, LOL)

Esports Event

  • 2022 League of Legends World Championship | WINNER

  • EVO 2022

  • PGL Major Antwerp 2022

  • The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational

  • Valorant Champions 2022

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.